Monday, September 23, 2013

Encouraging Our Young People Toward Jobs

Perhaps I am stepping out on a limb here, but it’s a limb
I’m very comfortable with. (If you don’t agree with me, it’s perfectly okay.)
Drum roll . . . . . . I believe that
both sons and daughters should be steered by their parents to prepare for a job
that will actually provide for their basic needs—food, clothing, and housing.

How can we do this? There are lots of ways. To begin
with, we need to understand our child’s strengths and weaknesses. We encourage his strengths while working on his weaknesses. Is your child arty and
creative? Does he like science? Is he a math brain? Does he excel in music? Is
your child a writer? Encourage those gifts. Enable him to develop them while he
is small. Some of your child’s interests will perhaps fall by the wayside with
time, but you will— when he’s age fifteen or so—begin to see where he might go
in life.

Not all children
need a college education. You only have to think a little to know that
those who excelled in technology—like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Michael
Dell—didn’t have college degrees. (Their brains were far ahead of colleges at
the time!) Now, I’m not saying our kids are as bright as those three, but there
are lots of jobs out there that require experience over degrees. Especially in
manufacturing, it’s advisable to do apprenticeships and learn the process from
the ground up. Food is another field where a little bit of ingenuity and a lot
of hard work pays off. Invent the next great salad dressing or bacon-flavored
dessert, and you’re there! (It helps to have some marketing savvy and financial
backing, too!) There are specialized schools for: carpentry, mechanics,
cosmetology, electrician training, etc. that would better prepare your child
for these fields than a college would.

If your child
needs a college education, encourage him to apply himself and take it
seriously. College isn’t a four-year party scene. College is preparation for
life and should be viewed that way. It’s fine to have some fun, too, of course,
but the purpose—and all the money—should be taken seriously. If your child
needs a degree (or two, three, or four) to do his calling, make sure his major
will actually take him towards that goal. (How many times have people graduated
from college with a degree that qualifies them for exactly zero jobs? Too many
to count. Even if the degree might help, he further handicaps himself by having
no experience under his belt. No one will hire him without experience.)

By the college student’s second or third year, he should
be actively working toward a job goal.

Make sure your
child (male or female) is majoring in something that will actually prepare him
to make enough money to be able to live on after his graduation.There are
so many cool majors out there. Each has merit, but not every one is practical.
How many history education majors are now not in history nor in education? How
many counseling majors don’t have a job? (I’d like to take counseling myself,
but I couldn’t feed myself with it.) How many Christian ministries majors
(especially girls, here) find themselves out beating the streets to find any
job—any job—because they failed to
think that maybe they wouldn’t marry
their Prince Charming Dream Preacher right out of college? (In fact, they don’t
even have a boyfriend.)

Encourage your
child to go into a field he likes and to get a degree that will actually
qualify him to do something that will feed him, clothe him, and put a roof over
his head. If he is arty and creative, why not major in design or education
or advertising? Then, make sure he gets hands-on experience in the summers. If
he is musical, is he ready for Carnegie Hall? If he has an exceptional talent, yes, encourage him in majoring in voice or in
his instrument—with additional study and apprenticeships in view. But, if you
have a normally talented child, maybe encourage music education, pedagogy, or a
minor in music. If you have a science or math-inclined child, make sure he
specializes. He needs to be thinking about where he wants to end up, and what
will qualify him for a science or math real job. Does he want to be an
actuarial, a laboratory researcher, or an astrophysicist? Help steer him. Is
your child a natural born teacher? Help him choose an education program in a
school where he ends up with certification. Will he need a master’s degree?
Encourage him to go ahead and get his master's right after his first four years. Does
your child want to be in medicine? Help him visualize his long-term goal:
doctor, nurse, radiologist, cancer specialist, or physical therapist. Does your
child want to coach or be a social worker? Help him get the education he needs
as well as experience in the community, working with children or with needy
people. Help your child to study with an actual job goal in mind.

We want our
children to eventually be independent adults. They can only be independent
if they have a job that pays enough to live on. I believe both young men and
women need to be qualified to do some kind of a paying job. I’m also a great
believer in Christian schooling. (More about these topics in future posts. Stay
tuned!)

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Hi and welcome to In the Way! I explore many subjects, striving always to present them from a biblical viewpoint. Feel free to browse the tabs at the top for general categories. If you don't see what you're looking for, use the search button below. I'm a pastor's wife, mother of two, grandma, teacher, author, and blogger. I live in a quaint little village in the beautiful Basque region of northern Spain.

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Lou Ann is a young-thinking grandma with an infectious laugh. She rejoices in nature and other beautiful things--including people! She's an avid writer and practices several other artistic expressions, like singing when no one's listening, calligraphy, photography, and even "serious art." Lou Ann loves her Lord Jesus Christ, family, and her church.